S1 • E20 Jul 15, 2020 10m
Sonora Webster Carver (1904-2003) was one of six children born to a working class family in rural Georgia. In 1923, she answered an ad seeking "Attractive young woman who can swim and dive; likes horses; desires to travel," and was hired by circus entertainer William 'Doc' Carver, a sharpshooter who founded Wild West shows with Buffalo Bill Cody. Webster became one of the most famous horse divers in the world, making history by diving 40 feet on horseback into a tank of water. Her act soon became a staple at state fairs and carnivals around the country, before becoming a standing act at Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 1931, Webster was blinded from retinal displacement after one of her dangerous performances, but continued to dive horses for another 11 years. Upon her retirement, Webster worked for the Lighthouse for the Blind and engaged in activism for the blind. Interviewees: Vicki Gold Levi, Co-Author of Atlantic City: 125 Years of Ocean Madness; Fairland Ferguson, trick rider and roman rider for the Dixie Stampede and Cavalia.
